Adventures in Cooking

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Friday, June 15, 2012

Awhile ago, I posted a recipe for Pico De Gallo to go with the Chipotle Bowls that I made. I love pico and I've been using it in place of dressing on salads, on top of chicken and pretty much everywhere else that is socially acceptable.

The other day I had a craving for some fresh pico. I then thought to myself, "how can I add some extra protein?"

Voila! This recipe was born.

It takes a little prep work and chopping but the results are phenomenal. This is the perfect side dish to bring to a cookout or to your Thunder parties!

It's so colorful, fresh and flavorful. You may want to double it though. I can promise you that it won't last long.

Monday, June 4, 2012

I would never think of messing with something so perfect. But I came across this recipe for Caprese Lasagna and I thought that it was crazy enough that it might work.

And I made it gluten-free! Win!

The best way that I can describe this dish is that it is a mix between traditional lasagna and a margherita pizza.

Crazy, right?

The answer is yes. But it's crazy delicious.

First, boil water and cook gluten-free lasagna noodles until almost al dente. Drain the noodles and coat in a little bit of olive oil.

Pick up some Jennie-O hot turkey Italian sausage. Squeeze the sausage out of the casing and brown it up.

Once it is brown, move the meat to a colander with a bowl underneath and drain. In the same pan, melt butter. Then add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add Bob's Red Mill gluten-free All Purpose flour and whisk to combine.

Slowly pour in chicken broth and stir. Then add milk. Whisk until smooth and add salt and pepper.

Using a spatula, stir sauce until thick and bubble. This will take around 5 minutes. Transfer sauce to a bowl with a spout.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Then pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.

The only problem with these glorious drinks from Starbucks is that I can only have one once a week. They are pretty expensive and I have a problem forking over $3.00 for a drink. To enjoy these suckers everyday, I'd have to forfeit my savings account and get a second job.

But I found a solution. No second job for me!

This is literally the simplest thing ever. I'm about to save your bank account.

That, my friends, is all you need. The price of the tea was almost the same as one drink at Starbucks. The whole box makes 48 servings.

48 x $3.00 = $144.00.

Or one box for roughly $3.50.

We just saved $140.50.

Let that sink in.

First, boil 1 quart of water.

While that is boiling, make 1 quart of lemonade and put it in the refrigerator.

When the water reaches a boil, turn the heat off and add a tea bag. Steep for 5 minutes.

Remove the tea bag. You can either add sugar or not. If you want it sweetened, then obviously add some sugar. I prefer to omit the sugar. Then everyone can sweeten it to their tastes or leave it plain.

It was difficult, but not as intense as I thought it would be. I lifted the highest weights I could with proper form, it just wasn't very challenging. It is still a solid workout and because it only took 20 minutes, I'll file it away for when I need a quick workout.

For my abs/core, I did:

Stability Ball Crunch w/ 25lb. Weight Plate (12 reps)

Torso Rotation w/ Dumbbell (12 reps/each side)

Seated Crunch w/ Medicine Ball Between Knees (12 reps)

Decline Bench Crunch/Twist At Top w/ Medicine Ball (12 reps)

Plank Walks on Bosu Ball (12 reps)

This was a solid ab routine and took me about 10 minutes.

For the last 15 minutes, I hit the step mill. It is literally the most killer cardio machine ever. I am slowly building up my endurance on the thing and I'm hoping to get to 30 minutes straight.

Overall, it was a quick 45 minute workout but it was effective!

After my workout, I came home and whipped up a Green Monster.

Unfortunately, I don't have exact measurements. I just eyeball it. Sorry not sorry.

Start off with some almond milk. You can use any kind of milk here, but almond milk doesn't hurt my stomach like normal milk does.

Then I throw in 1/2 a banana

Next goes a scoop of 100% Whey Protein (vanilla)

Then I put a little under a tablespoon of peanut butter in

Toss in some ice and mix it all up

Now comes the fun part!

Spinach.

Stuff in as much of the green stuff as you can. I know you're scared. I know you probably think I'm insane.

Trust me, I understand.

I was just like you. I've been seeing variations of this smoothie for the past 6 months and I turned up my nose every time. One day I was feeling kind of crazy and decided to give it a spin.

All I can say is, do it.

You don't taste the spinach at all. You taste peanut butter and banana goodness. I promise!

Not only is this a great source of protein, but it has a huge serving of veggies! I like to drink this immediately after a weightlifting session. It's so refreshing.

Plus, it's in a mason jar. Everything tastes better when it comes out of mason jar. It's a scientific fact.

Hey there! My name is...

I'm a recent college graduate, lover of coffee and obsessed with all things football, cooking and fitness. I have a sensitivity to gluten, so a very large majority of my recipes are gluten-free. I hope you enjoy!